Betta Poop And Feeding Schedule

[ktinal900]

Just wondering if other betta keepers might be able to help me out...

Recently, one of my little girls suffered a temporary bout of floating problems. A couple days of fasting and she was back to normal... What I was wondering is how often do you feed your bettas? I used to do two feedings (their regular amount split in two meals) daily but switched back to one... which is what I originally used to do until I read about others splitting their food into two meals a day... Shouldn't they poop soon after they eat (like goldies)? Because now I only see poop every few days and I am wondering if they are constipated or because of their new feeding schedule? Ack, so many problems. Maybe I should go back to the twice daily? Or will it take a few days to get back to normal?

[touchofsky]

I usually only feed my bettas once per day and feed them very sparingly.

Also, I don't always see poop from the bettas like I do from the goldfish.

You could try feeding a gel food made with a lot of peas. My bettas love this. I posted the recipe in the pinned gel food thread in the goldfish food section of the forum.

[bettaqueen]

yes bettas as well as goldies can get swim bladder. It sounds like you did the right thing by fasting him. You could also give him a pea next time as well just like you would a goldie with swim bladder. As for feeding . It depends on the person and the fish. Each person has their own opinion. I feed mine twice a day small amounts. If you are going to breed them soon you need to feed them more often and bigger amounts. But usuaully once to twice a day in a small amount is enough for the average betta. A betta breeder friend of mine feeds them more often when he is getting ready to breed them. I don't know about the other person but I do see my bettas poop all the time. They usually poop little flat short ribbons of poop the same color of the food they are eating.